Desperate to add an arm to their ailing rotation, the Dodgers signed a pitcher with a reputation as a head hunter who was badmouthed by his former teammates when he was recently released by the Texas Rangers.
Manager Joe Torre downplayed how Vicente Padilla might affect the Dodgers' clubhouse, saying, "I don't think it's a risk. I'm serious. I think we're as a team far enough along that if someone's a bad influence, it's not going to affect other people."
The move was made on the same day the Dodgers put Hiroki Kuroda on the 15-day disabled list.
Padilla, whom the Dodgers will start paying a prorated share of the major league minimum of $400,000 when he goes on the active roster, last pitched for the Rangers on Aug. 5. The Rangers owe him the remainder of his $12-million salary and the $1.75 million to buy out the option of his contract for 2010.
Padilla was 8-6 with a 4.92 earned-run average in 18 starts for the Rangers.
The 31-year-old right-hander will pitch for triple-A Albuquerque on Saturday and is scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers in Colorado a week from tonight.
Padilla defended his reputation.
"I'm not a bad person," he said. "They'll find that out here."
Of his tendency to throw at opposing players, he said, "First, I've never thrown at anyone's head. Second, I like to pitch inside. That's how I pitch."
Padilla said he was surprised when he was let go by the Rangers and disappointed by how his former teammates described him.
"Whenever people have something bad to say, they wait until you're gone," he said.
"They don't say it in person. I don't think that's right. They should have said it to me in person. No one ever told me anything."
Padilla said he didn't know if any other team was interested in signing him.
General Manager Ned Colletti admitted that the Dodgers had an increased sense of urgency to acquire a pitcher after Kuroda was hit in the head with a line drive Saturday, but he said they never engaged in serious talks with John Smoltz, who signed with St. Louis for a similar deal earlier in the day.
"I don't think they had any interest to come here," Colletti said.
Kuroda to the DL
Back in the Dodgers' clubhouse, Kuroda was far enough removed from the scary moment to joke about it. So were his teammates.
"He has a hard head," Matt Kemp cracked. "I probably would've been out for the count."
